ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Several Chiefs players took time to field media questions Saturday from training camp.
WR CORNELL POWELL
Q: What have you been up to since OTA’s ended?
POWELL: “Took a couple days off, just relaxed, let my body rest and then got right back to it. Went out to Florida to train a little bit, but just tried to stay at it. Keep crafting, keep working because I knew we were going to come out here and it’s a grind non-stop. So, got to be on my game every day.”
Q: How was it out at practice for you today after having some time off from OTA’s?
POWELL: “It was fun, man. It’s good to be back, it’s finally football season. Just being able to go out there and do what I love with the guys is always a blessing so just try to take it one day at a time, don’t let it overwhelm you. At the same time, you got to study, you got to be persistent and consistent so just staying after it and then try to go out there and translate film to the field each and every day.”
Q: Was there anyone you reached out to on this roster or around the league during the break to try to get ready for camp?
POWELL: “I learned there’s nothing you can really do to get ready for training camp besides doing it and learning from experience. So just coming out here, make sure your conditioning is up, making sure that you know the plays, knowing and being knowledgeable of the game and your assignment and your alignment will take you far. The rest of it is just football at the end of the day. You got to go out there and be a dog and make plays.”
Q: How important is this time with Patrick Mahomes to form a relationship before veterans get here?
POWELL: “It’s extremely important. We try to show him that we can come out and make plays year one. You want to gain his confidence, gain his trust and you do it by making plays in practice and in preseason. When it comes to game time, he can look out there and he’s like “oh I trust that guy” and go out there and keep doing what you’ve been doing.”
Q: How much did you watch what Sammy Watkins did while he was here?
POWELL: “Sammy is such a special talent; you can’t replace what he did. You just got to go out there and fill your own shoes and try to make your own name for yourself.”
G TREY SMITH
Q: What have you done to prepare during the break between minicamp and now?
SMITH: “I had to go to Knoxville and clear out my apartment. That’s the first thing that I did, and I was able to spend a little time with family before I was in Dallas training.”
Q: Was Mitchell Schwartz in your ear as well?
SMITH: “Yeah, I actually had the chance to speak with him briefly. Just asking him for some tips for training camp, so it was lots of fun.”
Q: What have you been able to carry over and what needs to be reinforced?
SMITH: “Honestly, everything needs to be reinforced. I’m always chasing perfection. It’s just something you can’t obtain being human beings. The little nuances, that’s something I can take better care of in my game, paying attention to detail, not being too overaggressive with a lot of things I do, just being official in my play. Like I said, we’re always chasing perfection, but we’ve got to do it every day and it’s unobtainable. There’s so much I have to work on my game. I’m not even close.”
Q: What excites you the most about the playbook?
SMITH: “It’s a high-octane offense. It’s truly a blessing to be here with the Chiefs organization. I’m playing with guys I looked up to as a kid like Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, those type of guys around me. I’m excited about the opportunity to be here, and I’m really blessed they decided to use a pick on me.”
TE NOAH GRAY
Q: What was it like for you out there today as far as what you remember from OTAs and some things you need to work on?
GRAY: “OTAs was really a blessing for us. I don’t know how the rookies last year did it, so I think we’ve got to give a lot of credit to those guys who are sophomores now in the league. But going through OTAs really helped just from a knowledge standpoint, just understanding the basic concepts that this offense asks you to know. So, it was definitely a huge help from that perspective. What I need to work on, just everything. Out here today there were a lot of things that in OTAs I was asked to work on that I need to keep building on. Route-running, blocking—we haven’t put pads on yet but when blocking comes that’s going to be something that’s going to need to continue to progress. But there are a lot of things in the route-running game that I still need to get better at. I’m still asking questions. Jody (Fortson) has been phenomenal, when Trav (Kelce) gets back he’s been a great teacher and mentor, and really all the other tight ends like Nick (Keizer), all those other guys, Evan (Baylis) and Blake (Bell), they’re just really a blessing to be teammates and be a part of. So, really a credit to those guys for helping me progress along this journey.”
Q: Is there anything you want to show the coaches when the pads come on that you can’t do in shorts?
GRAY: “I’m just going to continue to keep playing ball and doing what they ask me, pads or no pads. Obviously, I’m prepared in terms of contact and stuff like that, but when the pads come on, I’ll just do what I’m asked to do. There’s nothing I’m really trying to prove out here. I’m just trying to get better like everybody else is.”
Q: How comfortably and seamlessly do you think you can translate from the Duke offense to here?
GRAY: “There are a lot of things that Duke taught me that are very similar to Coach Reid’s offense and his philosophy, and I’m very grateful for that. I’m grateful for Coach Cutcliffe and the rest of the staff there, Coach Faris. So, there’s definitely a lot of things that I’ve been able to take with me from them that translate over here. But like I said, I’m just trying to continue to get a hold of the new intricacies that Coach Reid asks us to do, like everybody else is. There’s definitely stuff that translates, but there’s still a lot of stuff I’m learning to get better at it.”
Q: You’re joining a team that are Super Bowl favorites. Was there a point where you realized what the standard was here?
GRAY: “Yeah, I understand the standard of the team, but every team has a standard. Even though we may be looked at as Super Bowl winning team like you had mentioned, we have a standard here and I’m just trying to uphold that. I knew that coming in, I knew that as soon as I was drafted, and it’s really a credit to my teammates for kind of getting me up to speed on that and then rolling that out here on the practice field.”
Q: What has Travis Kelce meant for you as you continue your transition to being a pro?
GRAY: “It’s tremendous. Like I said on draft day, I don’t think there’s anywhere else I’d rather be in the country. To be able to learn under Travis Kelce, one of the best tight ends in the league, right now it’s a blessing. To come out here and to be able to gain that knowledge from him and to learn from him every day and to be able to visualize and watch him on the field, that’s been something that’s been extremely key to me coming out and being able to execute my assignment. Even guys like Blake, guys like Nick, those guys have been in the system and they’ve been tremendous in helping me out with my development and just being able to come out here and execute what I need to do.”